


Homecomings

by AceQueenKing



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Sibling Rivalry, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 06:03:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6411898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/pseuds/AceQueenKing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashley finds out that turian families aren't <i>that</i> much different from human ones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecomings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Burning_Nightingale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burning_Nightingale/gifts).



Ashley readjusted her dress for the fifteen time in the Palaven sunlight as Garrus fidgeted. They'd been standing in front of what Ashley assumed was a turian door - looked like a human door, only higher, and far plainer than most human doors would be - for at least five minutes. 

Garrus adjusted his cowl again, and Ashey bit down on her lip to keep from saying anything. She knew it was hard for him, but by God, Palaven was hot as hell and she had just been on a ship that might as well have been a turian cattle car, for all the people they stuffed into it.

(Turians, she was realizing, either had very little concept of or recognition for personal space. Giving up your ability to stretch, she supposed, was little compared to outright dying for the Hierarchy without reservation. Garrus, for his part, had barely noticed the cramped conditions.)

He raised a hand to the door, and her spirits rose, only to be dashed seconds later when he let it fall, awkwardly, back to his side.

She touched the small of his wasp-thin back. Garrus didn't lean into it -- which, she supposed, was normal on Palaven, but she held it there for a few moments anyway.

"You don't have to tell them," she said quietly. "It's alright. Tell them I'm just a tourist. Or something."

It was difficult, she suspected, for Garrus to come home. Harder still to come home to a father and sister he'd never quite been able to rescue during the war. She'd seen the pictures on Garrus' holo - his sister, who'd lost a leg on one of Palaven's moons, and his father, whose facial plate's cracking had grown far more severe in the wake of the Alliance's rationing. 

Garrus hadn't gone home after the war -- and she suspected that part of the reason why was the guilt for what his family had suffered. Ash understood that. She could barely even glance at Sarah sometimes. Especially when Sarah looked down, her eyes vacant for a moment; Ash knew that the sometimes-sad expression that crossed her face was the pining for a husband long since lost to the war.

But she had managed to face Sarah; Garrus had been here to encourage her then. Now, Garrus was facing his guilt, and she would be right by his side. 

But, she knew, it was hardest, perhaps, to come home with not only what Ashley was rapidly learning was not just Garrus' first cross-species girlfriend, but his first serious relationship girlfriend as well. 

"No," he said, turning a bit to look at her. "You don't deserve that. It's just I'm trying....I'm trying to figure out what to say. Exactly."

She sighed. "Would it be easier if I did the talking, tough guy? If I mess it up, well, it's not like your dad's opinion of humans could get much lower -- "

"No." Garrus shook his head. "I'll tell them. It's just...It has to be perfect."

Ashley nodded and, not for the first time, wished she hadn't worn heels.

\- - - 

After another five minutes had passed, Ashley considered offering some suggestion, if only to alleviate Garrus' fevered expression. At this rate, she was quite sure Garrus would relive the entire war inside his head before offering a peep -- and that, certainly, was something Ash hoped she would never experience again 

She was just about to speak up when the door swiveled open. 

"Garrus!" A female turian growled, before reaching up and yanking his fringe down until they were on eye level. "Get. Inside."

"Sol!" He squeaked, and Ash had to bite her tongue before she laughed out loud as Solana dragged him inside.

"You worry too much." Sol said, before throwing a glance over toward Ash. "Solana Vakarian. And you are?"

She tilted her head toward Garrus, looking utterly sheepish. "You'll have to forgive me. This doofus I call my little brother hasn't bothered to tell me your name yet. Do come in." 

"It's -- "

Ashley smiled and grabbed Solana's hand, shaking it as she stepped through the door. "Ashley Williams. But please, call me Ash." 

"Ash." Solana grinned. "Well, it's nice to meet you."

"Sol, I -- uh -- " Garrus scratched his neck. "That is -- uh -- Ash and I are -- "

"Dating, yes I know." Solana rolled her eyes. "Little brothers, they are utterly helpless sometimes. What would you do without me, Gar?"

"I -- " Garrus opened his mouth, but didn't get out another word before his sister turned back to Ash. "Do you have siblings?"

"Three," she said, grabbing Garrus' hand. "I'm the oldest."

"Hm." Solana nodded toward Garrus. "Well, brother, at least you have good taste." 

"How about a drink?" Garrus asked, clearly desperate to get out of the conversion. "I think we still have a bottle of Asari wine somewhere."

"Yes." Ash said; Solana nodded.

"He's quite fond of you, I think," Solana murmured softly as Garrus dashed through the kitchen. "He wouldn't put up with all the teasing otherwise."

"Good." Ash said. "Does that mean we have to let up on teasing him, though?"

"Nope." Solana grinned, waving at Garrus from across the hall as he wrestled with the cork."I think we're gong to get along just fine, Ash."

The feeling, it turned out, was mutual.


End file.
